To
know me, all you really need to do is read my books. I'm in there. I grew up in
the country in southern Indiana, near small towns that were much like the
fictional Verona that appears in my books. The high school I attended was very
much like Verona High School. We had no openly gay boys in my school, but there
was much prejudice and hate against homosexuals. Being called "gay" or
"fag" was about the worst insult that could be hurled at anyone. I
have no doubt that many of the fictional scenes in my book could well have
happened in my old high school. All of Indiana tends to be fairly conservative
and anyone who does not fit in the narrow mold of normalcy is largely considered
an outcast. Being "outed" in my high school would have meant both
being exposed, and being excluded, even exiled if you will.

I currently live in a small town in northern Indiana that is
little different from the towns near where I grew up. Verona is a composite of
all these towns. It is a town that could be located just about anywhere in the
U.S., not just in Indiana.

I get a lot of questions about whether or not my characters
are based upon me. In many ways they are, especially those found in
"Ancient Prejudice". Both Mark and Taylor were very much based upon
myself, so much so that in early drafts they were far too much alike. I ended up
splitting my personality between them, giving Mark my more confident and
determined side and Taylor my more thoughtful and sensitive side. When you read
the thoughts and feelings of these two boys, you are reading about me. I think
every author puts much of himself in his characters. Most of what I am and
believe can be found in my novels. Just about every single character has a touch
of me in him.

I am a full time writer and plan to keep on writing novels until I'm no
longer able to do so. There are always new characters and situations to explore.
I've received a lot of letters from young and not so young gays telling me how
much my books have touched them. It is for these individuals, and myself, that I
write.